Joss Whedon – Angel: After the Fall, Volume 3
102. Angel: After the Fall, Volume 3 by Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch, Nick Runge, David Messina, Stephen Mooney, Shaynne Corbett (2009)
Angel: After the Fall, Volume 3 (Issues #9-12)
Read my review of:
– Volume 1
– Volume 2: First Night
Length: 192 pages
Genre: Graphic Novel; Fantasy
Started: 23 August 2009, in my hammock
Finished: 23 August 2009, still in my hammock but with a brief nap in the middle.
Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? I hate stopping stories halfway through.
Summary: Volume 3 picks up where Volume 2 left off – the whole gang helping Angel battle the demon lords of L.A. After they extricate themselves from that situation, and hell freezes over (literally, in this case), most of the rest of the book is spent with Angel tracking down Gunn, and then the two of them working through their issues… although not necessarily in the most productive way. Meanwhile, everyone learns a little bit more about what’s really behind their trip to hell. The hardcover rounds out with Betta George’s “on-set diary”, and a series of fan Q&As with Brian Lynch.
Review: I don’t know about this one. It may be me – I was pretty tired when I read this – but something about this just didn’t work out. It felt like none of the pieces fit together… the panels didn’t flow into each other, the dialogue didn’t scan, and the explanations didn’t quite make sense… like all of the words were in English, but they weren’t put together in a way that meant anything. It was disconcerting reading something that typically relies so heavily on the familiar patterns of speech built up by the characters and have it be so disconnected and foreign-sounding. There were some nice surprises, and a few good WTF moments, but since the bulk of the story focused on two of my least-favorite characters, combined with the comprehensibility problems, led this issue to be a bit of a let-down for me overall. 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Meh. People who still find Gunn interesting will probably be of a different opinion, but I could take or leave this one.
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Other Reviews: Stella Matutina
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Fyrefly's Book Blog 
I thought I was the only one who had trouble reading this. I found the paneling pretty hard to follow too, though I enjoyed the book as a whole quite a bit more than you did.
Memory – Your review was actually really reassuring that it wasn’t just me and my stupid sleepy brain that was having problems.
Bummer! I love me some Joss Whedon, but maybe I’ll skip these & stick with Dollhouse that will be starting up for the fall soon. :-)